Interior Design Business Podcasts for October 25, 2022
As a massive fan of podcasts AND the co-owner of a residential interior design firm in Toronto, it makes sense that I listen to a lot of interior design business podcasts.
Whether it’s marketing experts who provide service to interior designers, interior design business gurus or experienced interior designers sharing their lessons with us all, I always learn something that can help our Toronto-based residential design biz.
Here are the podcast episodes that I am listening to on October 25, 2022.
A Well-Designed Business - Luann Nigara
BUSINESS BUILDING BY DESIGN - Emily McGrath
Bevel: Canadian Interiors Conversations - Peter Sobchak
Business of Design - Kimberley Seldon
Convo by Design - Josh Cooperman
Design Build Sell - Alisha Dobbie, R.B. Gallup, & Sarah Bennett
A Well-Designed Business - Alex Alonso: Always Say Yes to a Client, Except When You Should Say No - 59 min
In today’s episode of A Well-Designed Business, host Luann Nigara interviews Alex Alonso of mr. alex TATE Design.
Alex was recently on Bravo TV's hit design competition series, "Best Room Wins" where his "transitional" room design earned him a coveted spread in elledecor.com. Throughout this podcast episode, what impressed Luann was Alex’s knowledge that he is here to share.
On multiple occasions, Luann found that Alex just knocked it out of the park in terms of when to turn down a client.
Alex shares his ABCD approach that took him and his team months to formulate and now serves them, to be able to have their ideal clients and provide the best client experience.
Luann’s highlights from the podcast
Do all of the ABCD’s of Alex’s ideal client have to check the “yes” box?
How Alex responds when a client comes back after they were declined.
The instances that Alex moves forward with a client if they don’t know or don’t share their budget.
LuAnn Nigara and Alex Alonso's Ah-Ha Moments
“The more honest you can be with yourself about what you can deliver, the better the client experience will be because you’ll have the confidence to speak with the client and say yes, this is or isn’t possible.” - Alex Alonso
“It’s really important as a firm to stand behind your word as a collective team.” - Alex Alonso
“There is a justification and rationalization when it comes to budget that a consumer can sink their teeth into.” - LuAnn Nigara
You can check out this episode of Michelle’s excellent podcast here:
BUSINESS BUILDING BY DESIGN - Steps to Get Clear on Your Calling and Turn it Into a Business! - 38 min
Today, host Emily McGrath chats with Stefanie Gass, CEO, wife, boy mom, coffee lover, and #pjsallday enthusiast!
Stef helps women get clear on their niche, start a podcast, and grow a successful online business, God's way. She is the host of a top .5% globally ranked podcast for Christian Entrepreneurs, The Stefanie Gass Show. Stef believes it's possible to partner with God to create impact and income without sacrificing or buying into social media hustle. Check out her podcast “The Stefanie Gass Show”
With this podcast episode, Emily wants interior designers who are looking for your niche and/or looking to clarify their calling to save this episode and listen over and over and over.
If you want to learn more, you can check out this episode here:
Bevel: Canadian Interiors Conversations - Auto-Ethnography in Design w/ Michael Kaethler - 1 hr, 17 min
Ask a designer what the role of a designer is, and you will get as diverse a spectrum of answers as you will designers.
Is it one of creative expression or rigorously conducted research?
Is it engineering over artistry, or vice versa?
Can it be everything, all at once?
Many designers will chafe even at that, saying not taking a position is part of the problem of our times.
Designers taking a position, at times referred to as authorship, has always been fertile ground for debate between critics, theorists, educators, and practitioners. There are designers who shy away from authorship because they think of themselves of problem-solvers, not a brand. Then there are those who believe designers are not merely mediators, not just part of an agency that suggest various options to the client, but in fact need a strong voice and make decisions – an attitude that could be seen as in opposition to the prevailing sentiment that design is all about collaboration.
A collection of interviews and essays by editors Louise Schouwenberg and Michael Kaethler in a new book titled The Auto-Ethnographic Turn in Design (2021, Valiz) gives host Peter Sobchak a good opportunity to explore these issues.
In this episode of Bevel, Peter chats with Michael (our first returning guest to the series) about making sense of phenomena in design described as auto-ethnographic and how, if at all, authorship fits into the discourse.
“Auto-ethnography gives an authority to the designer as someone with something to say and a means to say it,” says Michael in one of his essays. It “situates the designer at the heart of the research and connects this position to the culture of design and the broader cultural realm.”
Michael Kaethler is a sociologist of design whose work focuses on the transmission, production and embodiment of knowledge in art and design-oriented practices.
If you want to learn more, you can check out this episode here:
Business of Design - On the Job with Kimberley Seldon - 25 min
No job is a simple job, and some days are tougher than others. Listen in as BOD™ Advocate in Chief, Kimberley Seldon, meets with her A team to solve some job site challenges in real time.
In this episode we learn:
always tackle the toughest job first (eat the frog)
ask your trades to be present when you tell clients about any big setback on a project
when ordering plumbing fixtures, doors, etc. ask the supplier if you are going to need anything else for the installation
you are not alone
If you want to learn more, you can check out this episode here:
Convo By Design - Age of Influence featuring Sara Malek Barney and Melanie Venture - 55 min
This Convo By Design episode is a conversation about influence, your influence on the business of design and the relationships with others that make up this remarkable industry of ours.
Every successful creative knows the importance of presenting a professional image in digital media. The importance has been magnified in the past few years but with compressed schedules and far less free time to learn new strategies it has become more challenging to create beautiful and meaningful content. In this podcast, you will learn some best practices for interviews, editing images and text to best showcase your work in short videos and social media. You will also learn how to craft your professional introduction on mic and on camera.
This is a perfect conversation for the successful designer and architect looking to take their promotional content to the next level. This chat took place at the WestEdge Design Fair in Dallas, Texas in September 2022. It features Melanie Venture of the Dove Agency, Sara Malek Barney of Bands Design & host Josh Cooperman.
If you want to learn more, you can check out this episode here:
Design Build Sell - "Save or Splurge" - 44 min
This week, hosts Alisha Dobbie, R.B. Gallup, & Sarah Bennett talk about areas they think you can save and places you should splurge when designing and building a custom home. They also share their opinions on how to maximize value during the building process.
If you want to learn more, you can check out this episode here: